In the modern era, you’re putting a unique type of strain on your back every day. If you work in an office, you might be lucky enough to take advantage of the standing desks your employer offers and save your back a little extra stress, but the rest of us might not be so lucky. In fact, with so many of us hunched over screens all the time, whether it’s our phone or our laptop, or maybe even our big monitor, we’re always hunched over anymore, and we’re putting loads of stress on our back. Indeed, it can be quite difficult to foster a healthy back in an era that’s more focused on creating new technologies, rather than keeping our bodies in good shape. Thus, if you’re like some of the millions of Americans, both young and old, that experience back pain on the regular, just know you’re not alone and there’s still something you can do about it. 

What Back Pain Treatment Might Be

Lots of folks are capable of finding back treatments that may not come with the highest rate of recommendation. From immediate back surgery for someone less than 30 to extreme chiropractic practices, back pain diagnosis and treatment can get a bit weird. That’s due to the simple fact that most symptoms that describe back pain of any kind often describe back pain of all kinds.

This makes it rather difficult for professionals without a measure of experience to properly advise and diagnose a patient, as it’s easy to misread those symptoms. Some prescribe narcotics too freely for back pain as the first line of treatment, though that’s rarely the correct course of action. Others perform similar misdiagnosis and fail to solve any problem with the spine and the muscles in the back. This is why so many US citizens feel discouraged about their chronic back pain, as they feel they’ve tried everything. 

However, though it may seem overly simplified, sometimes your back pain is a result of a myriad of bad habits. Once those bad habits are stopped, you could see significant improvement on your own. After all, trying to eliminate a few poor practices on your own time is much easier than finding the right doctor who can help you solve the puzzle of your back. 

So, what bad habits should you work to cut out to get started?

Smoking

Most people don’t associate tobacco use with back pain, but it’s actually a common cause of the issue. Smoking is associated with chronic pain all over the body, but it’s especially apt at creating back pain for its users. Essentially, it works by taking blood supply away from your spine and starts to starve the disc cells. In addition to depriving your discs of nutrients, it’s also capable of acting as a poison to the disks in your back as well. This constant trade of blood and deprivation of the nutrients and oxygen your body needs all over is what gives tobacco its name for causing regular and seemingly un-rooted chronic pain all over the body. Though it may seem easier said than done, if your back is in enough pain, it might be enough to motivate you to stop smoking which would be beneficial for your whole body, but it would certainly reward you with less back pain sooner, rather than later. 

Sleep Deprivation

With all of the problems sleep deprivation causes, it’s a wonder we all get by with less than 6 hours of sleep at any time. From stress to fatigue and beyond into less obvious symptoms, sleeping wrong can really manage to ruin your week, but it’s also known for being very good at ruining your back, too. The thing about sleep for your back is, when you’re sleeping and resting on a good mattress, you’re taking the pressure off the disks in your back and letting them rest. During this resting period, they can reabsorb the fluids that get squeezed out during the day as they act like little compression pieces as you move around and perform physical activities. 

Additionally, when you’re sleep-deprived, you stress hormones automatically spike and cause the muscles in your back to clench and tighten. As we talked about in one of our previous blogs, this is one of the primary causes of back pain throughout the US. Make sure to set aside plenty of time for you to get enough sleep and give your back the rest it needs and your mind the rest it needs so you don’t feel stressed out the next day. 

Eating the Wrong Thing

You’ll likely be able to make this jump yourself, but what you eat greatly affects how your body functions. If you’re choosing foods that cause inflammatory responses in your body, you might be causing your own back pain. Additionally, eating food that’s aren’t very nutrient-dense makes it harder for your body to stay strong and keep your muscles that keep your back straight and pain-free, well-fed. Be sure to ingest plenty of lean proteins, fruits, and veggies as well as good whole grains and healthy fats like those you’ll find in avocados and such. This will help you to build strong body tissue that will strengthen the architecture of your entire body and ensure that no part is being strained more than another unnecessarily. 

Skip Your Exercise Routines

Without exercise, the body feels more readily fatigued. Your brain is regularly soaked in too much of one hormone and it makes your thought patterns change and become less healthy. A lack of exercise could attribute to a lack of sleep and bad eating habits, none of which do anything good for your back or your overall health. In addition to all of that though, you’re far more likely to have back pain if you’re not busy and being active for a variety of other reasons too. Your spine needs support from strong back muscles, and if you’re not keeping them strong, they’re actively withering. 

Lifting weights, in fact, is one of the best ways to support a healthy back as it engages the muscles of your core and back like no other can. Other good everyday activities that will keep your back strong are things like climbing stairs and lifting things up around the house. Low impact exercise is likely the best for your back and for your body as a whole though. You’ll find that workouts that are centered around activities like walking long distances, cycling, doing yoga, and swimming will also strengthen your back and might even relieve pain as you do them. Be sure to make exercise like these a part of your regular schedule, as overdoing workouts when there’s too few built-in to your weekly schedule often results in more back pain and straining your muscles rather than building them. 

Seek Back Pain Solutions With The Experts At The Spine Care Center in Manassas

Even with all of these good habits, back pain can still persist, and if it does it’s likely a symptom of a larger problem. Tired of guess-work and trying to solve your back pain on your own? Don’t get your back pain and symptoms misdiagnosed by an amateur. Access experienced spine care and treatments now. Schedule an appointment today.